NXIVM trial: 'Complete meltdown' for ex-lover

Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. When she pleaded guilty on March 25, Salzman admitted that she had recruited women into a secret slave-master club founded by Raniere and had threatened to release damaging information about those women if they did not perform tasks or tried to leave the group. (Associated Press / Seth Wenig)

Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. When she pleaded guilty on March 25, Salzman admitted that she had recruited women into a secret slave-master club founded by

Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. When she pleaded guilty on March 25, Salzman admitted that she had recruited women into a secret slave-master club founded by Raniere and had threatened to release damaging information about those women if they did not perform tasks or tried to leave the group. (Associated Press / Seth Wenig)

Lauren Salzman leaves Brooklyn federal court in New York, Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. When she pleaded guilty on March 25, Salzman admitted that she had recruited women into a secret slave-master club founded by

NEW YORK — A former NXIVM executive and ex-lover of Keith Raniere testified Friday that the man known as "Vanguard" shamed her and refused to father her child because she briefly rough-housed with another man on a volleyball court.

The testimony of Lauren Salzman, 42, marked the first time that one of Raniere's co-defendants and a member of his clannish "inner circle" has taken the stand at his criminal trial.

Salzman confirmed Raniere was bedding numerous women in the self-help organization — and had later founded a "secret master-slave" group in which she became a "first-line master" and recruited "slaves."

But she said Raniere turned on her when, in his view, she "straddled" a male player during the 2011 game.

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Raniere, who was renowned in the organization for seeking retribution when women he controlled gave attention to other men, told Salzman she was behaving "inappropriately" and being disrespectful, she said.

Raniere called off plans for the two to have a child — a devastating blow to Salzman, who wept as she recounted that episode.

It was part of what Salzman painted as a longtime pattern of cruel and controlling behavior by Raniere over the years. She said she asked for Raniere's permission before making personal decisions such as visiting her grandparents, seeking serious medical treatment, even grooming her pubic hair.

She wiped away tears when the subject of the baby came up.

"Did you want to have a child with the defendant?" assistant U.S. Attorney Tanya Hajjar asked Salzman.

"Yes," she replied.

Salzman said she wrote Raniere a seven-page atonement plan for her "ethical breach" on the volleyball court. She had also faced repercussions when she flirted with another man, she told jurors in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, where Raniere is facing charges that include conspiracy, racketeering, sex trafficking and forced labor.

"I'm so sorry Keith," Salzman wrote in an email to Raniere on March 13, 2011, that was shown to the jury.

"I have not respected my relationship — I defaulted on my commitment and was not honest about what I was doing," Salzman wrote. She said in the note she was perceived as "easy" by another woman in NXIVM, an opinion she had learned from Raniere.

She said Raniere held the possibility of fathering her child over her head. She said she considered leaving NXIVM in 2013, but Raniere again raised the prospect.

He later asked her to stay in NXIVM and remain to loyal to him — without them having a child or even a relationship. Raniere had told Salzman that he impregnated a woman in the organization who had abortions. And he was considering fathering a child with someone else, she said.

"I was very upset," Salzman told Hajjar. "It felt very hurtful and confusing to me. I had a complete meltdown."

She ended up staying in NXIVM, where she held the high rank of "senior proctor" and was a member of the executive board.

Wearing all black and pausing for long periods, Salzman described how she first met Raniere when she was 21. He was very close with her mother, NXIVM President Nancy Salzman, who like her daughter pleaded guilty in March to federal criminal charges.

Lauren Salzman said her first impression of Raniere was that he was "a little strange." But she warmed to him, became his lover — like her mother had been — and his subservient.

Salzman became a "master" in DOS, which stands for "Dominus Obsequious Sororium," which means "Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions."

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"He was my master," Salzman testified, as Raniere watched her intently from the defense table in a royal blue sweater over a dress shirt. "He was my most important person. I respected him. I looked up to him. ... I was a slave with Keith as my master, and I was a master with others under me.”

On March 25, Salzman, one of Raniere's five co-defendants in the case, pleaded guilty and admitted that she had recruited women into DOS for him. Many of the women were branded with the initials of Raniere and fellow DOS member Allison Mack, a former television actress and longtime NXIVM member who has also pleaded guilty in the case.

Salzman, who was also the organization's education director, acknowledged she had threatened to release damaging information about those women if they did not perform tasks or tried to leave the group. Prosecutors said some of the women were groomed and coerced to have sex with Raniere.

Salzman said at the start of DOS meetings, women in the secret group would take naked photos of themselves — and send them to Raniere.

They needed to show their branding scars and "look uniform and happy.” Raniere would occasionally attend the meetings.

“We would all get undressed and sit below him," she testified. "He would sit above us on a chair.”

Salzman said that Raniere also had encouraged her to keep her weight around 100 pounds. Many of the women who were loyal to him were also instructed by Raniere to maintain rigid exercise and dietary regimens that would keep them rail-thin.

Earlier Friday, the trial took an unusual detour when a California bondage device salesman testified that a NXIVM member had ordered ankle shackles, a puppy "plug" and a "jail cell" from his company.

Sean Welch, a businessman from Extreme Restraints in California, said the order of fetish-related materials was placed by Daniela Bergeron, also known as Daniela Padilla, and delivered to her residence on Raleigh Drive in Halfmoon, where Raniere and many of his closest confidantes had lived for two decades.

Welch spoke about a number of items that NXIVM members ordered from his company. One toy promised the user could "train your pet to obey every command. Perfect for puppy play or naughty slave."

Another item, a sling with wrist cuffs, touted its owner could "call the shots while your submissive partner is restrained at your mercy."

A steel cage was marketed as a "true piece of dungeon furniture" and came with a $1,049 price tag.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza questioned Welch about the items, asking if one item described as a studded "puppy paddle" was "meant for animals."

"No," Welch replied.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday at 9:30 a.m. with Salzman on the stand.